Now What?
by samtana
Summary: Fulfilling my writer's sweet tooth. Kataang and not much else.


This story is dedicated to True-Romantique, who I once told that I couldn't write romance. This is basically "Samtana's Confession;" I guess I can write fluff. I hope you enjoy.

I don't own Avatar. I'm giving up all worldly possessions.

**Now What?**

Katara, dressed in tumbling green robes, walked out to the balcony. Now was momentous, and she savored it. She was being waited for.

She never had the chance to experience this feeling before, not ever. True, she had grown used to waiting, her eyes out a window aimlessly in vain hope. Waiting for her father to come back from the war. Waiting for the avatar to return. Waiting for the war to end.

Now the war was over, and she was through with waiting. She eased up. She relaxed.

This calming feeling overcame her and operated her eager leg muscles, propelling her towards Aang. He was waiting for her. He didn't look like it, but he was. He was waiting to know her answer was to his question. He was also waiting for her. Just her. It wasn't like the kind of waiting Katara was used to. It wasn't apprehensive, distraught, or lonely. It was loving, compassionate, embracing. Accepting.

She moved next to him and met his relieved gaze with a blush. She eased herself into accepting that she wanted to be embraced by more than just a feeling of anticipation. She gave him a hug, something real, something to test whether her feelings were more than simple whims, whether or not she was simply overemotional at the finality of the war. Whether she truly did want him.

He passed the test.

Her body was lonely again as their separation allowed the robes to tumble again. The pair looked out over the grand city. It was the perfect place. It was the perfect time. There was no point in waiting anymore.

She turned to look at him again, and he did the same.

Maybe there was a point in waiting, only that now it was more than just waiting. It was savoring. Savoring his expression, his longing for her, was something that warmed her. Being desired. It was so wonderful to be thought of in that way. And to dangle that desire in front of his face, the ability to manipulate anticipation, was intoxicating.

But she only paused on this line of thought for a moment. She wanted him to feel that release, the dissolved tension of unambiguous finality. And she was ready to feel something else, too.

So she leaned in and kissed him. He closed his eyes just in time.

There was a timelessness to it. During her waiting, things seemed to happen so, so slowly. Many things happened in a short period of time. Now they spent a lot of time doing something very simple and very basic, and there was no waiting for anything else. Simply the ability to enjoy, uninhibited.

Finally.

Pulling away from each other, their breath lingering on each other, their noses barely touching, Katara opened her eyes. Aang's were waiting for her, and they smiled blissful release at each other. It was warm.

"So…" said Aang, his eyes averting, his grin turning childishly recognizable. "Now what?"

Katara arched an eyebrow. She opened her mouth without realizing she didn't know the answer, and croaked incomprehensibly instead. "I don't really know," she admitted.

"I always thought we would just do, you know, that," said Aang, "and everything would fall into place afterwards."

"Well, at the play you said you thought we'd be together," said Katara. "What did you mean by that?"

"I," stammered Aang, "I'm not sure."

Katara leaned in closer, allowing her lips to dance just out of his reach, feeling his muscles tense up in pleasant apprehension.

"We could do that again," she whispered.

Aang closed his eyes and breathed through his nose.

"And if we still don't know what to do?"

"We can try it again until we know."

Aang's muscles decided they were done waiting. Katara knew soon enough that the idea sounded good enough for him.

----------------------------------------------------

Fluff? A telling of the final scene that has no explanation for the Ember Island Player's Problem? Told from Katara's perspective?

Obviously Samtana has been sabotaged.

Or I'm just in a fluffy mood. On a normal day this would have broken out into comedy. That was the original plan, anyway. But, hey, Katara deserves romantic moments with her beau after I forced her through my grueling finals.

I get no points for originality on this one.

-samtana


End file.
